Douk Audio T8 PRO HiFi Vacuum Tube 7-Band EQ Preamp Equalizer, Balanced XLR Valve Pre-Amplifier for Home System

Much more than an EQ
This has gone way beyond what I expected! I guess it must be the valves. Widened the soundstage, better imaging and holographic. A far sweeter sound … worth every penny 😊

Almost perfect
Sorry but this is going to be long one.Arrived safely, well packaged and easily set up. A nice little power supply which plugs straight in to a mains conditioned extension. I used the Balanced connections, which is one of the reasons I bought this particular model.I was not particularly interested in the valves, it was the amount and range of the equaliser sections which was my primary reason for buying this. Especially as it was so comparitively inexpensive. Bearing in mind this is for a secondary system I use only for music in my bedroom.This has a 2 terabyte music server. Optically connected to an old Gustard X16 DAC. Then on to a S.M.S.L. amplifier. All balanced connectors using good quality cables. The speakers are Elac reference bookshelf, so not an insignificant system. The problem with the speakers is they can get a little bright and sibilant on the top end, so needed a bit of toning down. This took quite a bit of time, firstly almost a week of letting it bed in. Then adjusting the dials incrementally. This is were it falls down. Constantly adjusting 1 dial fractionally at a time, then back to the listening position and playing my reference tracks. Mostly rock and pop.This is a painstaking and tedious operation. But has to be done…IF, this had a remote control then it would be a LOT easier. Though obviously would cost more. After about 10 days I had it almost right, but not not quite good enough. As an addenda, the volume is set to maximum, so it’s only working as a fixed level pre-amp. So I opted to take advantage of the valves. Buying 2 of the recommended replacements, 6N1-J. Once fitted, again giving them time to bed in, I started from scratch to balance everything out. They provided extra detail especially in the mid-range BUT at the cost of losing the soundstage dimensionality. Everything was compressed between the speakers, hopeless. Even tried swapping out the speakers from my main system in the lounge. A 7.4.1 of Q acoustics. No change, so it’s not that. Decided to buy another DAC. A S.M.S.L RAW-MDA 1. This one is new to the market so not many reviews (I’ll follow up with my review in the near future). Back to the start.Swapped out the valves for the originals. Equaliser set to zeros. What a difference that made.Soundstage expansive once more, reaching out beyond the speakers, and the depth is brilliant. Pinpoint accuracy of instruments and placement. Tweaked the dials, but mainly the 6khz down a little bit to reduce the sibilance. Job done.Other reviewers of the equaliser have complained a little about the dials not quite central, but there is a detent in the middle, so that’s the starting point anyway. Also the balance being controlled by a screw.Again, once this is set you don’t have to touch it, and if it was a dial, then that could be moved accidentally.Would I recommend this unit, Yes, with the caveats above. It needs careful attention when partnering equipment you intend to use. Spend some time with it and the rewards are good enough. If like me, you have to buy something else to get out of it exactly what you want, then it no longer is value for money.

Clear pronounced mid bass
Excellent value and definitely a marked change in boosting the mid and lower fequencies